Hogwarts: A Snake in the Grass - BOOK 6 (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

4: The Army

When I woke up, I saw Professor McGonagall talking to Remus at the end of my bed.

'Poppy still isn't sure if she'll wake up!' McGonagall was saying, 'Too much stress, I suppose... I mean, we can see how much all the homework affects all the other students!'

'Yes, I remember what it was like for me... It's more difficult than I could have imagined!' Remus replied.

'Yes... All of us teachers have agreed that she won't need to catch up with the homework she's missed...' McGonagall told him.

'No homework to catch up on? I'm game!' I said weakly.

'Molly!' Remus looked over at me.

'How are you feeling, Miss Black?' McGonagall asked me.

'Just peachy...' I said, 'What day is it?'

'Friday,' Remus replied.

'I've been out of it for almost a week!' I exclaimed, 'What happened with Quidditch yesterday?'

'It's fine! You're still on the team!' Remus told me, 'Now, rest! You've had a rough time. You'll probably be out tomorrow if you're feeling up to it, though I wouldn't be so sure. Professor Snape has run out of blood-replenishing potions due to you!'

With that, McGonagall and Remus left.

I returned to classes the next day, acting as though nothing had happened. I had DADA first, and I knew the slightest sign of weakness would mean being sent straight back to the Hospital Wing.

'There is a topic from your O.W.Ls than comes up every single year in a N.E.W.T exam and I believe you were taught a rather... biased view on it last year,' Snape's voice seemed to come from nowhere as he swept into the class, 'Today we will be focusing on it. You have covered how they react at the full moon, how they are turned and ways of treating infections, but you have not yet covered werewolves when they are not transformed in an... unbiased perspective.'

My grip on my quill tightened. Could he not have taught this when I was away? Did I have to sit and listen to the lies the Ministry spread about my kind? Why was he doing this to me?

'Out with the time of the full moon when a werewolf transforms, you would never be able to recognise one. They look exactly like you or me, they act the same,' Snape made his way around the classroom, 'The only give away are the scars that lace their body, most obvious is the bite they received when they were transformed. Werewolves lock themselves away during the full moon so not to harm other people, and in doing so they end up injuring themselves quite severely. Which comes to the point I want to make.'

Everyone was listening to Snape's voice intently. Werewolves were always a great topic of interest after Remus was at the school, so everyone lapped up his words.

'You were taught last year that werewolves lose their sense of morality even when in human form,' Snape drawled, 'If that were the case, why would they actively make sure to injure themselves instead of other people?'

'Because they don't want the Ministry to kill them,' Seamus said suddenly.

'On the contrary, Mr Finnegan,' Snape continued, 'Many beg for death when they are bitten, they don't want to live as a werewolf. And they don't want to make anyone else have to suffer like them. If they had no sense of morality, surely they wouldn't care? Instead of begging for death, would they not just go out and ensure the Ministry has no choice?'